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“The Tories can agree about fracking, if nothing else”
With the Conservative prime minister pairing up with the Labour mayor of London to take on the Tory ex-mayor and Ukip leader in the EU referendum, there is at least one unifying announcement the governing party can cling on to. Shale gas.
North Yorkshire County Council approved Third Energy’s plans to hydraulically fracture its well near the village of Kirby Misperton (see news, above) – something the Conservatives will undoubtedly be pleased about, since they have long supported fracking.
Not only did it form part of their manifesto, but it has even got the EU-divided energy secretary Amber Rudd and energy minister Andrea Leadsom showing a genuine united front.
The community around Kirby Misperton, and the opposition parties, are vocal in their hostility to the planning approval – and to fracking in general.
Even the council’s planning committee appeared to approve the plans begrudgingly, referring to the national policy framework which sets out the importance of indigenous oil and gas reserves.
Leadsom hit back at the anti-fracking brigade, calling it a “fantastic opportunity”, reiterating that the practise is safe because of the regulatory regime the UK has in place, and that the industry could create 64,500 jobs nationally.
So, at a time when the Brexit battle is raging and party loyalties have been (temporarily) abandoned, it is almost refreshing to know that political normality can be found by the government approving something controversial.
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